Work or utility vehicles, such as tractors, are often adapted to be used with various types of attachments. For example, a loader may be attached to the front of a tractor through arms and hydraulic controls that allow the loader to be raised and lowered, and also rolled forward and backward. Many different attachment or implements may be attached to the front of the work vehicles, thereby allowing an operator to accomplish various tasks with a single work vehicle.
Conventional front-end loaders include a pair of lifting arms or boom assemblies that include towers or rearward ends that pivotally attach to a tractor, and lifting arms or forward ends that pivotally attach to an implement. Generally, the arms of the loader and the attached implement may be controlled by a hydraulic system. Hydraulic cylinders may be configured to operate front-end loaders and their attached implements. Hydraulic lines may extend along an exterior (or routed along the interior) of the front-end loaders for powering the hydraulic cylinders.
A manufacturer of a particular work or utility vehicle typically prefers that utility components (for example, attachments, implements, and the like) of that particular manufacturer be used with the particular vehicle. For example, a manufacturer of a particular tractor prefers that a front loader produced by that manufacturer be used with the particular tractor.
In order to ensure additional and increased sales of equipment, a typical manufacturer provides a specialized attachment bracket that may be attached to a utility vehicle. The specialized attachment bracket may be sold with the utility vehicle, for example. The specialized attachment bracket is typically designed and configured to allow use of only a particular type of utility component produced by the manufacturer. For example, a manufacturer sells a tractor with specialized attachment brackets that may be secured to the tractor and used to connect a particular utility component (produced by the manufacturer) to the tractor. The attachment brackets generally are not compatible with utility components of other manufacturers. In this manner, the manufacturer ensures that if a customer later decides to purchase a utility component, such as a front loader, the customer typically purchases the utility component of the manufacturer.
However, an individual may own a utility vehicle, such as a tractor, produced by a first manufacturer, and a utility component, such as a front loader, produced by a second manufacturer that differs from the first manufacturer. As such, the individual may view the purchase of another utility component produced by the first manufacturer to be expensive and wasteful.
Further, if an individual prefers to use the different utility component (a “different” utility component being, for example, incompatible, non-compliant, or otherwise inoperable with respect to the utility vehicle and/or attachment bracket) with the utility vehicle, the individual typically needs to first remove the originally-supplied attachment bracket that connects to the utility vehicle. A separate and distinct attachment bracket that is compatible with the utility component is then positioned on the utility component. Again, however, the individual may find the expense of the separate and distinct attachment bracket to be excessive. Further, the removed attachment bracket is typically discarded or otherwise not used, which is wasteful.
Thus, a need exists for a system and method of efficiently using utility components with utility vehicles, whether or not the components and vehicles are manufactured by the same entity.